Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao have now fallen out of favor, and Li Zhi is indifferent to them. Although Li Zhi had no intention of deposing the queen when Wu Mei gave birth to a princess, after Wu Mei strangled her own flesh and blood and put the blame on Queen Wang, Li Zhi's desire to depose Queen Wang and enthronize Wu Mei became more and more urgent day by day.
In addition, Wu Mei's performance with his first prince Li Hong in the palace and in front of the ministers in Taiji Hall made Li Zhi now look at Li Hong as a good candidate to be the crown prince. Coupled with Wu Mei's pillow talk, the idea of deposing Li Zhong and making Li Hong the crown prince began to take root in his heart.
Li Hong, one of the parties involved, now knew what he should and should not do. The affairs in the palace, especially those in the harem, were not something he could control at the moment. He wanted to keep the Li family after Li Zhi, or to stop the three big men in the harem who were playing "Dou Di Zhu" from fighting overtly and covertly. It was as difficult as climbing to the sky for him now.
Therefore, what he could do now within his ability was to try his best to change the fate of Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao after they fell out of favor and were deposed, so as not to make their fate as miserable as described in history books: having their hands and feet cut off and turned into human pigs.
Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu were both loyal "fans" of Wu Mei. In the two major events of deposing Wang and enthroning Wu, and deposing Zhong and enthroning Hong, these two people made indispensable contributions and played an absolute role in fueling the flames. It can be said that without these two people, there would never have been such chaos in the court and the harem.
Therefore, Li Hong's top priority is: how to effectively isolate them and keep them as far away from Wu Mei as possible.
Li Hong wanted to, but it was not easy for a prince to get close to the ministers. Therefore, this strange flower continued his sideline business of making money, and continued to bring his strange and fresh wind to the smoky harem.
The ice-making business once again made him keenly aware of business opportunities. When he accidentally saw his eunuchs Mangzhong and Hua Meng holding ice in their mouths to cool off, popsicles popped into his mind in a flash and he couldn't get rid of them no matter what he said.
So the next day, Li Hong asked his maids and eunuchs to go to the food bureau of the Ye Ting Palace to ask for a large amount of white sugar. Sugar at this time had already gone beyond the scope of maltose made from rice and malt. Like refined salt, it was already a common food. However, in terms of quality, it was not as white and fine as snow, but it was enough to make popsicles.
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...
After a few people went back and forth and brought back a lot of sugar, Yang Wu followed them, wanting to understand why King Dai wanted so much sugar and what he wanted to do.
Naturally, King Dai would not look at him well. Yang Wu was pushed out of the palace by Li Hong without getting any answer. Looking at Li Hong's determined back, he could only shake his head helplessly. He knew better than anyone that King Dai was more favored than any other prince and he could not afford to offend him.
I simply gave up the investigation. Since the King of Dai only wanted candy, not poison, then let him do what he wants. Anyway, if anything happens, I guess his mother and His Majesty will back him up.
Li Hong and his palace maids and eunuchs, a total of nine people, worked secretly in his palace for an entire night. Finally, he made popsicles according to the shape of his previous life. The palm-sized, rectangular popsicles were introduced in the Tang Dynasty.
Early the next morning, a strange scene appeared at the gate of Li Hong's palace. There were eight people in total, including four eunuchs, Hua Meng, Mang Zhong, Jing Zhe and Lie Bao, and four palace maids, Xiao Xue, Xiao Han, Xia Zhi and Bai Lu, with frowning faces. Each of them had a basket covered with thick cloth on their arms. They were unwillingly driven out by Li Hong who was squatting at the gate.
"Go quickly, what are you dawdling for?" Li Hong squatted at the door and urged anxiously.
"Prince Dai, this is not good. The people in the Ye Ting Palace will not allow us to do this." Xia Zhi pleaded in a low voice with a sad face.
"Yes, King Dai, I am speaking like this, I... I..." Bai Lu was the shyest. She was carrying a basket with her head almost drooping to her chest.
Hua Meng and the others also had a variety of expressions on their faces, all of which were filled with pleading. If this spread in the palace, how could he continue to behave like this in the future? It would be too embarrassing. How did the King of Dai come up with this idea of selling things along the palace? I don't remember him ever leaving the palace and seeing small vendors selling things along the street.
"Hey, didn't I teach you yesterday? Just shout as I taught you yesterday. Remember, two cents each, don't sell it for less." Li Hong stood up and pushed Bai Lu, who was closest to him.
"Prince Dai, why don't we go and sell ourselves tomorrow? Today, let's learn how to shout...out...that..." Xiaoxue's pretty face also turned red, and she said reluctantly and shyly.
"Tomorrow? It will melt tomorrow, so what are you still selling? If you don't go now, I'll sell you first." Li Hong was too short, and he could only put his hands on Xiaoxue's plump and perky buttocks and push them. The firm and soft buttocks were about to be deformed by his pushing.
"Prince Dai, you can't sell things like this in the harem. If Zhaoyi finds out, you will be punished. We are risking our reputation...that...this popsicle is fine, but if you are punished, it will be our fault." Mangzhong saw that Prince Dai was determined not to change his mind, so he quickly brought out Zhaoyi Wu as a shield.
But it was obvious that this trick was still effective. After listening to Mangzhong's words, Li Hong showed a hesitant expression, put a finger in his mouth, and paced back and forth at the door thoughtfully, muttering to himself: "Yes, if my mother knew about it, the punishment would be a small matter, but if our financial resources were cut off, it would be a loss. How about this, Xiazhi, you go and give what you have to my mother. Then you, you give this to Queen Wang, you, give it to Concubine Xiao Shu, and you, Palace Lady Yang."
Seeing that there was only one maid, Xiaohan, left, Li Hong thought for a moment and said, "The court officials should have left the court now. Let's go and deliver this to our father."
Li Hong had a new idea in mind, he would use these for advertising first, and when the advertising effect came out, he would carve out another small window on the window at the entrance of his palace, and sell popsicles and ice cream every day.
There must be milk in the Imperial Food Bureau, so I can make some ice cream with milk. Then I won't be afraid that my mother will stop me from doing this job after she finds out. The worst that can happen is that I won't make any money. Improving the food in the palace is also a good thing.
Before Li Hong and Xiao Han reached the Taiji Hall, they were stopped by a palace maid, who said that Zhaoyi wanted to invite them over.
Li Hong didn't think much about it and let Xiaohan deliver it to his father himself. He followed the palace maid to his mother's palace.
The palace maids were jogging all the way, and Li Hong could not keep up. As a last resort, the palace maids had to squat down, pick up Li Hong and run towards Zhaoyi's palace.
The current Wu Zhaoyi is no longer the Wu Zhaoyi who had just entered the palace two years ago. When the palace maids serving her heard Wu Mei asking them to bring Prince Dai back to the palace as soon as possible, they did not dare to slack off and trotted all the way to look for Li Hong.
"Your son Li Hong greets mother." Just as he reached the door, before the palace maid could put him down from her arms, Li Hong shouted inside in a hoarse voice.
Wu Mei naturally heard it clearly inside. Her fair and beautiful cheeks were immediately covered with frost, and countless black lines appeared on her forehead.
This little thing really didn't learn any royal etiquette at all. I don't know what Shangguan Yi taught him during this period of time. How can he be a prince? He is just a wild boy who ran into the palace! The empress of a generation suspected that she had given birth to a wrong child. How could she give birth to such a wild boy!
Li Hong, with a grin on his face, ran to Wu Mei with his legs swaying, bowed, and then said with a chuckle: "Your son greets mother, and I wish you to be more and more beautiful and younger, and to love father and emperor, grow old together, respect each other as equals, and be as respectful as guests..."
"Come here, you wild boy." Wu Mei gritted her teeth, interrupted Li Hong's flattery, grabbed Li Hong's ear and pulled him into her arms.
The little thing's mouth is getting sweeter and sweeter. Whenever he does something wrong, before the person even comes to him, his little mouth is like honey, and he keeps saying auspicious words that make you unable to get angry and punish him.
Wu Mei pointed at the basket beside her and said, "Tell me, mother, what is this? Did you mess with it again?"
"Hey, why doesn't your mother eat it? It's delicious. It's a great food for cooling down and relieving summer heat." Li Hong leaned in Wu Mei's arms, turned around, looked at the basket of untouched popsicles and asked instead of answering.
Wu Mei couldn't get angry at this naughty little thing. She motioned the maid next to her to open the basket and take out a piece. She said coldly, "Then tell me how to eat it. Hmm? Are you going to let me eat the cold paper on it?"
"Oh, I forgot to give it to you. Xia Zhi, go quickly and tell them that they need to tear the paper before they can eat it. Go quickly." Li Hong looked at Wu Mei's maid holding the popsicle in her little hand but not holding the exposed piece of wood, and slapped his own head.
Seeing that Wu Zhaoyi had no objection, Xia Zhi hurriedly bowed respectfully and then slowly walked out of the palace. However, as soon as he walked out of the palace gate, he immediately ran away.
After making the popsicles last night, the King of Dai did not let them try them first, but told others to try first. What Li Hong did not tell them was that he himself was not sure whether the popsicles made of saltpeter could be eaten, whether they would have diarrhea, and whether they would be poisoned.
Wu Mei looked at Li Hong who was absent-minded in her arms, pointed at his forehead with her slender jade finger, and snorted, "What are you thinking about again? Tell me, mother, who else did you send this thing to?"
Li Hong watched the maid carefully peel off the paper, and signaled her to taste it first, and not give it to his mother. If it was poisoned, he would be in trouble. After thinking about it, he decided to be the guinea pig, and then he stretched out his little hand to take out one, peeled off the paper and put it in his mouth to suck. It tasted good, but there was too much sugar.
While sucking the popsicle with satisfaction, he chuckled and said, "I gave it to Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao. I gave it to them for free today. If they want to eat it again tomorrow, they will have to buy it with money. Besides, I'm the only one in the palace where they can buy it. Hehe... Ouch." The smug Li Hong was slapped on the back of the head by Wu Mei.
The maidservant beside her chewed it carefully, and then showed a surprised expression: "Report to the Zhaoyi, this popsicle made by the King of Dai...is really delicious, sweet and cool, and it is very refreshing and thirst-quenching."
"Hehe, eat less. You will have diarrhea if you eat too much. After all, it is a very cold thing." Li Hong leaned in Wu Mei's arms and warned her coquettishly. He even passed the popsicle in his mouth to Wu Mei's mouth, wanting his mother to have a taste too.
"You wild boy, your mother doesn't know why she gave birth to someone like you..." Before Wu Mei could finish her complaint, the little thing blocked her mouth with a popsicle he had sucked on.
"Your Majesty has arrived..." Yang Wu's voice sounded at the door.
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